Gov’t Reschedules 2020 National Games to October 2021
Minister of Youth and Sports delivers press statement after attending a limited meeting on PON 2020 in Papua Province, Thursday (23/4). (Photo: Rahmat/PR)
After taking into account a number of reasons, the Government has announced that the 20th PON (National Sports Week) in Papua province, which was initially planned to be held in October this year, will be rescheduled to October 2021.
“One of the considerations is that the completion of the venue’s construction has to be delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Minister of Youth and Sports Zainuddin Amali on Thursday (23/4).
According Zainuddin, Papua province is currently imposing large-scale social restrictions; thus, the policy brings difficulties to the distribution of the construction materials as well as construction workers who mostly come from outside the province.
“The arrival of construction equipment from overseas has also been hampered due to massive lockdown worldwide,” Zainuddin added.
The Minister also said that countries who are going to supply sports equipment for the quadrennial event are also facing constraint in production.
“Not to mention the distribution and delivery process that are linked to that. In addition, proposals from sports branches and discussion among the National Sports Committee (KONI), Governor of Papua, Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR-RI) have decided that this sporting event should be postponed,” Zainuddin said.
As for the athletes, Zainuddin explained that under the ongoing pandemic, all training centers nationwide have been shut down so that athletes must practice by themselves at home.
“The Government cannot expect maximum achievement,” Zainuddin said.
For those reasons, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has made a decision that the multi-sport event will be postponed until next year. (TGH/EN)
Translated by: Estu Widyamurti
Reviewed by: M. Ersan Pamungkas
